Big Idea:

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) has committed $890 million to three carbon capture and storage projects, targeting two natural gas power plants and one coal facility.

Why It Matters:

The three selected projects in California, North Dakota, and Texas support President Biden's 2050 net-zero emissions goal. They have the potential to collectively reduce emissions by 7.75 million metric tons annually from the power plants. The goal is to demonstrate carbon capture, transport, and storage technologies to reduce emissions from natural gas and coal-fired power plants.

Key Details:

• 7.75 million metric tons of CO2 is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 1.7 million gasoline-powered cars.
• The Baytown CCS Project, with $270 million in funding, aims to capture up to 2 million metric tons of CO2 annually.
• Project Tundra, with $350 million in funding, has the goal of capturing 4 million metric tons of carbon per year.
• The Sutter Decarbonization Project, with $270 million in funding, is aimed at capturing up to 1.75 million metric tons of CO2 annually.

"The DOE estimates that reaching President Biden’s ambitious plan for a net-zero emissions economy will require capturing and storing between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2 annually from emissions sources by 2050. Selected projects, once completed, will help reduce emissions from the power sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of U.S. carbon emissions,” according to a statement from the OCED.

Dive Deeper:

The Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program was launched in 2022 with a budget of $2.5 billion. The program aims to develop infrastructure that can be replicated and implemented not just for fossil fuels but in other industries like cement, pulp and paper, iron, and steel production.